Tennis world number one Andy Murray goes for his first title of 2017 at the Dubai Tennis Championships this afternoon.
He takes on Spain's Fernando Verdasco in the final after defeating Lucas Pouille 7-5, 6-1 on Friday.
"It was tough, but I don't think it was the best match," he said after defeating the Frenchman. "There were a lot of mistakes.
"There was some good stuff in there in the middle and towards the end of the first set. Neither of us served well at the beginning. He barely made any of his first service games and I was struggling at the time too.
"I think the matches yesterday had something to do with that. If your legs are a little bit tired, your service is one of the first things that goes. As the match went on I began to serve a little bit better and that helped."
Against Verdasco, Murray has won 12 out of 13 matches on the ATP Tour, but the Scot isn't taking anything for granted.
"A lot of them have been extremely close. The last match we played on the Paris indoors was 7-5 in the third set and he had break points at 5-5.
"He had a great a great match with Novak [Djokovic] in Doha. He's a terrific player and he's obviously played very well this week.
"He's a dangerous guy to pay against. If you dictate the points, he can be really tough."
Andy Murray shakes hands with Lucas Pouille after beating him in the semi-final match of the Dubai Tennis Championships on Friday. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreil)
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